Back-to-back may stall some returns of those injured
Though the Rockets had hoped John Wall would be ready to practice on Monday and be available to play on Tuesday, he was limited through most of the practice and ruled out for the first game of the back-to-back.
Wall has missed the Rockets’ past three games since he bruised his left knee last Wednesday in the closing minutes of the Rockets’ previous practice.
“He did just a little bit,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “That’s just based on his injury. There’s just a little bit of hope for Wednesday.”
With a good deal of uncertainty even beyond the players that are out, the Rockets will have to weigh whether players can play on consecutive nights when determining who will play Tuesday against the Hawks.
Christian Wood is listed as doubtful with Ben McLemore and Danuel House Jr. questionable.
Eric Gordon, David Nwaba, Dante Exum and Rodions Kurucs are out with P.J. Tucker not with the team. If every player dealing with an injury is out, the Rockets would have the NBA minimum of eight players.
“That plays a lot into it,” Silas said of the backto-back with the Rockets to face the Warriors on Wednesday. “The schedule we have, it’s hard to pin down because of the injury part and the recovery part. The back-toback is real and we have to do our best to put our best team out there. You don’t want to have a guy come off an injury and then play two games back-to-back. That’s not ideal.”
Shot quality went down
While much of the Rockets’ shooting issues have been tied to missing open and wide open 3s, when they began missing good looks on Sunday, they spent much of the second half forcing tough, contested shots.
They attempted 45 open or wide open 3s against the Celtics, making just 15 with most of those made shots coming in the opening minutes or in the fourth quarter when the teams cleared the benches. The Rockets made just 38.5 percent of their shots overall. Guards Victor Oladipo and Kevin Porter Jr. were a combined 12 of 35, just 5 of 24 after the first quarter.
“You don’t have to work so hard for ways to score or the difficulty of the shots to be so high,” Rockets coach Stephen
Silas said. “So, there’s things we can do as a group to help (Porter Jr.) and there’s things as a group we can do to help Victor, as well. Some of the shots that they took last night were very difficult shots. If we kind of get the ball moving a little bit more, get the defense moving and having more decisions to make, then the shots will be easier for them.
“We went over that on the film today and then went over that on the floor today, as well, ways for the shots to be a little bit easier. Or at least if they’re going to be tough, at the end of offense when the shot clock is toward the end and we’ve done something prior to the shot.”
Dry spells turn into blowouts
Beyond the blowout losses themselves, the Rockets’ losing streak has been marked by long dry spells so often typical in NBA games, but they’re so extreme they’re backbreaking.
The Rockets have lost by double-digits 19 times this season, 13 in the losing streak. Their nineconsecutive double-digit losses are a franchise record. The Rockets are 2-25 when trailing by 10 points or more.
“We just got to be mentally strong,” guard
Sterling Brown, who has started the past four games, said. “There’s a lot that’s been happening and going on, but we can’t use excuses. We can’t use the previous 15 games as an excuse. We got to get out of it, man. We got to keep fighting. It’s a game of runs. Teams will go on their runs, just like we go on runs all the time. We get in a hole and then get ourselves out of it. We just got to keep it consistent for the whole 48 minutes.
“It’s not difficult to get ourselves out of it. We have to stop getting ourselves in it. We got to keep everything in perspective.”
The Rockets have trailed by at least 18 points in 14 of the 16 games of the losing streak. They have held a double-digit lead in just one of those games.
“Teams come out and score; all right, cool, we’re on to the next play,” Brown said of the mentality the Rockets need. “It’s something you focus in on. Coaching staff has to stay on us. We have to stay on ourselves. We have to hold each other accountable. We got to keep playing. That’s it. We have to stop thinking so much and go out and play.”